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The BBC has launched an ambitious project aimed at providing specialised content to regions across the UK, and there's a highly original twist: most of the content will be provided by members of the public.

A cornerstone of operating policy for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is the aim to use the broadcast medium not just to inform and entertain, but also to educate, and to deliver specialised content region by region.

There are several projects underway which seek to address broader issues; the Skillswise project aims to assist viewers in honing linguistic, mathematical and mechanical skills, while a business-focused Web site pulls together all of the BBC's business and personal finance output. It aims to be the first port of call for investors, savers and anyone interested in the world of business and work.

Once upon a time…

 

This Capture Wales project allows people to share their stories using new media technology as part of the concept of digital storytelling.

Now, the broadcaster has unveiled a new online project which will offer local Internet services to audiences in Wales. The Where I Live project is spearheaded by BBC Wales, and its pilot site caters for residents of north-east Wales, though the plan is to expand the offering to include all of Wales, and ultimately, the rest of the UK.

It works like this: BBC Wales provides the site with local news, while the remainder of content is generated by community involvement. Local people across north-east Wales have already created a substantial amount of content, reporting on activities from bell-ringing to Thai kickboxing, and offering input on subjects as diverse as air raid shelters, cocklebeds and UFO sightings.

But wait, there's more. In addition to the Where I Live Web sites, BBC Wales is creating free access community studios, with the first up and running at a community library and arts centre in north-east Wales.

This Capture Wales project allows people to share their stories using new media technology as part of the concept of digital storytelling. BBC Wales is running digital storytelling workshops, and once trained in computer skills and the use of digital cameras and image manipulation software, locals get to create “living, moving scrapbooks” which they can share with the rest of the world.

These mini-documentaries are shown on BBC Wales' Capture Wales Web site, and also provide content to bolster regional programming should the need arise.

Limitless potential

All in all, the Where I Live project is a master stroke in the BBC's long-term strategy. New media's attraction is its almost limitless potential for interactivity, and the freshness of news and information sourced literally at grassroots level. A project such as this not only demonstrates that Ye Olde Beeb is unquestionably ‘with it', it also provides an unprecedented opportunity for the broadcaster to spot and recruit new talent, and of course, to line those archives with content.

Although it adds a new perspective to ongoing discussion of issues such as intellectual property rights, and cost and profit distribution in public/private partnerships, the project strikes me as being ambitiously envisioned and judiciously executed.

And it appears that it has hit the spot among its target audience; the first Where I Live site has attracted a lot of interest, with more than 35 000 page impressions over a recent two-week period, while the project was still in pilot stage. The Where I Live site and Capture Wales can be found at www.bbc.co.uk/wales.